Cherry Blossoms
by Kitsune Yarisha
Summary: “A promise is something to be kept, and it’s only too bad that it took us so long to keep ours, huh, Sasuke?” Moments of surrender, persistence, defiance, confusion, and love blur the images of life into an endless stream.
1. Chapter 1

**Cherry Blossoms **

**By Kitsune Yarisha**

A/N: "A promise is something to be kept, and it's only too bad that it took us so long to keep ours, huh, Sasuke?" Moments of surrender, persistence, defiance, confusion, and love blur the images of life into an endless stream. Sometimes, it is necessary to stop and merely observe life's script.

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Dialogue One: **Cherry Blossoms 

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Naruto: "We should come back again next year, when the cherry blossoms are first blooming!"

Sasuke: "Dobe, that's completely naïve."

Naruto: "What! Naïve, why?"

Sasuke: "We don't have a clue as to where we will be in a year from now."

(I should have taken the hint, then, and merely left the discussion alone, but back then I was young and stupid. I sped right on, determined.)

Naruto: "Well. I know where I want to be!"

Sasuke: "Where is that, dobe?"

Naruto: "Here! I want to come back here as the Hokage. And…and… I want you here, too, as the Anbu Captain! Yeah."

Sasuke: "All of this at fourteen?"

Naruto: "Yep. Why not?"

Sasuke: "You really are the king of the idiots."

Naruto: "That's not nice, Sasuke! Take it back!"

(A companionable silence is what was experience for those seven minutes that felt like an eternity. We didn't say anything, not a word.)

Sasuke: "Naruto?"

Naruto: "Yes, Sasuke?"

Sasuke: "Let's come back again next year."

_**(Yet, there was never a next year, was there?**_

_**And even though there was a promise**_

**Scratched into the bottom of that cherry blossom…**

_**We never really kept it.)**_

* * *

To Be Continued.


	2. Come Home

**Cherry Blossoms **

**By Kitsune Yarisha**

A/N: "A promise is something to be kept, and it's only too bad that it took us so long to keep ours, huh, Sasuke?" Moments of surrender, persistence, defiance, confusion, and love blur the images of life into an endless stream. Sometimes, it is necessary to stop and merely observe life's script.

* * *

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Dialogue Two: **Come Home 

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Naruto: "To me… this is one of my first bonds. That's why I'm going to stop you!"

Sasuke: "Well then, I will break those bonds."

Naruto: "Why does it have to be this way? _**All this time**_…"

Sasuke: "What? We've always been rivals, always been competing! What should it matter now that I want to go to become stronger?"

Naruto: "_**I've missed you**_…"

(Even then, though the words came from my tongue in such a foreign way, I knew that they were true. I had never said anything like that before…at least, until now.)

Sasuke: "…I'm going to go find Orochimaru, Naruto."

Naruto: "That's just fine. I plan on taking you back with full force. I made a promise to both Sakura and myself. You should know better than anyone that I don't go back on my word!"

Sasuke: "Because, that is your ninja way! Your nindo! Prepare yourself, Naruto!"

(So it began. An endless struggle between two rivals…friends…brother…what ever we were to each other. It was to be concluded in a rain of tears in the Valley of the End.)

Naruto: "_**Please come home**_…"

* * *

To Be Continued.


	3. History Repeats

**Cherry Blossoms **

**By Kitsune Yarisha**

A/N: "A promise is something to be kept, and it's only too bad that it took us so long to keep ours, huh, Sasuke?" Moments of surrender, persistence, defiance, confusion, and love blur the images of life into an endless stream. Sometimes, it is necessary to stop and merely observe life's script.

* * *

**Dialogue Three: **History Repeats

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(The stares were penetrating. They peered pass both defenses. Our masks were not in place as our eyes met, scorching a trail across the air between us.)

Naruto: "Sasuke…"

Sasuke: "Naruto."

Naruto: "It's been two long years, now."

Sasuke: "Indeed, and so much has changed? Have you become the sixth Hokage now?"

Naruto: "No. I've been looking for you. Have you become Orochimaru's vessel yet?"

Sasuke: "_**No, I've been looking for you. **_If you have so much time to come and find me, then you should be training."

Naruto: "Why look for me?"

Sasuke: "Or me…? I have yet to break my bond with you."

Naruto: "_**I want you back at the village**_. You've tried once to sever our bond. You think you can do it now?"

Sasuke: "In truth, I do not know. With you, _**I don't know my limits**_."

Naruto: "Well, I guess you'll just find out now!"

Sasuke: "I guess I will."

(And he did. If it was for better or worse, I'm still not quite sure.)

* * *

To Be Continued.


	4. The Crowd

**Cherry Blossoms **

**By Kitsune Yarisha**

A/N: "A promise is something to be kept, and it's only too bad that it took us so long to keep ours, huh, Sasuke?" Moments of surrender, persistence, defiance, confusion, and love blur the images of life into an endless stream. Sometimes, it is necessary to stop and merely observe life's script.

* * *

**Dialogue Four: **The Crowd

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(It came out of nowhere. A question that had been tugging at my mind was finally being voiced.)

Naruto: "Out of the crowd of strangers, how is it that I came by choosing you?"

Sasuke: "You choose me… because I am like you. We are similar."

Naruto: "Oh, is that it? How so?"

Sasuke: "I have no parents. I want to surpass others. I have matured… Just like you."

Naruto: "But we are still different, Sasuke!"

Sasuke: "Everyone is different and so are we. That is how we are who we are and we meet who we meet."

Naruto: "You're right. Oh, they're here."

(The rest of the team arrived…and you closed off.)

Sasuke: "Hn. How very annoying."

Naruto: "Come on, Sasuke. It's just for a little while."

(_**I love you**_…)

Sasuke: "Sakura has gotten clingy all over again."

Naruto: "She's missed you a lot when you were gone."

(_**I regret not saying it**_…)

Sasuke: "Is there anything else you want to say, dobe? You look thoughtful."

Naruto: "No…"

(_**I regret it like nothing else**_…So I shall tell you, so you can know.)

* * *

To Be Continued.


	5. Cherry Blossoms

**Cherry Blossoms **

**By Kitsune Yarisha**

A/N: "A promise is something to be kept, and it's only too bad that it took us so long to keep ours, huh, Sasuke?" Moments of surrender, persistence, defiance, confusion, and love blur the images of life into an endless stream. Sometimes, it is necessary to stop and merely observe life's script.

* * *

**Dialogue Five: **Cherry Blossoms 

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Sasuke: "Hokage-sama! You're late!"

Naruto: "Heh, yeah, sorry about that, Sasuke. I hade some last minute paperwork to do."

Sasuke: "Hn."

Naruto: "Hey, don't get like that. You'll ruin the moment!"

Sasuke: "What moment, dobe?"

Naruto: "This one… Under the cherry blossoms."

(_**After five long years, we finally made it here to watch the cherry blossoms freshly come into life, pink colors winking at us from high atop branches**_.)

Sasuke: "Hey, Naruto?"

Naruto: "Yeah?"

Sasuke: "This time… Let's not scratch out a promise."

(_**I touched the one promise sketched so faintly into the bottom of that cherry blossom tree from so long ago**_.)

Naruto: "Yeah, let's not. We'll come back again, anyway. Huh, Captain?"

Sasuke: "Of course we will."

Naruto: "…Hey, Sasuke?"

Sasuke: "Yes, Naruto?"

Naruto: "Thanks for coming back home…"

Sasuke: "Thank you for bringing me back, Naruto."

Naruto: "I love you."

Sasuke: "Me, too."

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The End.


End file.
